Saturday, December 1, 2007

It doesn't take much

Around here, snow is so infrequent and short-lived we swing into high gear at the first hint of a flake. We'll be lucky if we get a half inch, down here in the balmy lower reaches of Chehalem Valley, but we'll enjoy it like there's a foot of the stuff.

Despite the less-than-profuse amounts of fluffy precipitation, it is still cold enough that water troughs freeze over and the cows are disinclined to graze on the frigid pasture grass.

This December scene...... is the reason...... for this stifling, dusty, hot one back in August.The cats also have a lot of fun figuring out all these crazy white feathers that vanish as soon as they hit one's wet nose... little bits of disappearing cold, white bird?I am forced to wonder if Boo thinks his chances of actually catching something have skyrocketed due to this brief instance of environment for which he is, at last, suitably camouflaged. Ordinarily, his 20+ pounds of glowing whiteness makes him so conspicuous as to preclude any chance of sneaking up on anything with even the most feeble sense of sight. Were it not for the cat food dispenser, and my constant refilling of it, he would surely starve.

As I'm finishing this post, the snow has been replaced by fat, chunky rain and blustering wind. We're battening down the hatches and drawing precautionary water reserves in anticipation of the impending storm.

I'm soooo happy I had the opportunity yesterday to get out to the store... and to my raw milk place... and, most importantly, THE COFFEE ROASTER!

Weekend housebound caffeine withdrawal...? ::shudder::

Instead, we'll be enjoying the final Harry Potter book by a blazing fire with no need of anything from the outside world beyond weather reports to know how long our blissful seclusion will last.

Except for my imminent treks out to feed my pasture prima donnas, who will undoubtedly find sideways rain as undesirable dining conditions as gently falling snow, the rest of the weekend should prove rich in much-needed, decompressive coziness.

How is it that you got so much more snow than we did? Not a single flake stuck. Oh, but it was so pretty coming down!! And I love a good windy rainy storm. You are reminding me of my one mission today: to get fresh dry straw from Winco to refresh the hen's run. They don't like wet feet.

I'm so glad you got to enjoy snow on December 1st! I was feeling like I was living in luxury here in Utah where it just dumped on us Saturday morning. Everyone else on our road was grumpy and complaining about the snow, but Seth and I were like little kids. It's good to know that families back in good ol' OR were cuddling up with hot chocolate and fires, too, feeling wonderful about having to stay inside and relax.